User blog:Bionicle fanatic/An email FROM the mods???
Hi Botven, Now that you've had some time to cool down, we'd like to extend you the following offer: Because you're such a long standing member of the community and because all of your previous behaviour was great and you were a very valuable community member, we are prepared to let you come back. Obviously, this return, if you would like it, comes with certain stipulations. They are: - The main and most important thing is that you discuss things respectfully. We totally get that you've been upset but that doesn't excuse the abuse we received and we are sure you know that because we know you're a nice guy. - Despite the fact that we know you don't like it, we won't re-open the BCC. We do however extend the offer to continue to allow the BCC2, which is already nicely underway with the continuation of comedies that used to be in BCC1. We don't expect you to continue to petition for the return of the BCC because the conversation has already been exhausted. - We need you to be a role model for other users by not giving away your personal information. If a 10 year old user sees you attempting to do it and they look up to you, they're going to do it too and they'll be endangered. You will too and so we strongly discourage it. If you can agree to those things, all of which we think are very reasonable, you are welcome to return. Please let us know if you agree and would like to come back. Kind regards, The LEGO Moderation Team" "Hello mods, I thank you for the compliment on my previous behaviour. I will now address your terms: - As I showed at the start of our discussions, I am fully prepared to discuss things respectfully, logically, and without raising my temper, ''on the condition ''that you also discuss with logic, without hiding behind (let's admit it) incredibly lame excuses, and with nice, proper explanations. If you are prepared to continue discussing like mature people, then I will wholeheartedly agree to do so as well. - This is the reason I will not be returning to the LMBs, as the BCC and the people who ran it where really the only reason I stayed so long in the first place. However, that does not mean all discussions between us have to be closed, because I think we would both want to end this little chapter on a good note. - As before stated, I will not be returning to the MBs. I agree to discussions, if the conditions I outlined are agreed to, but I am sorry to inform you I will not be returning to the LMBs. I await your reply. Yours calmly, botven1 AKA Anonymous" "Hi Botven, Sure! So, in the spirit of ending on a good note, what can we do to help ease your mind that we’re not evil and illogical despots who are intent on ruining your fun! J Kind regards, The LEGO Moderation Team" "Hi mods, How about some admittance and apologies for the many incidents and actions that made me so cross? Kind regards, botven1" "Hi Botven, It depends what the many incidents and actions you’re referring to? J If you do intend to spell them out and continue the line that we’re lying and making excuses, perhaps you can also tell us what the truth is from your perspective. What are the real reasons why we took x, y and z action, from your point of view? That would obviously help us to respond to you better because it would help us to either agree with you or to explain to you better why the perceptions are not accurate. Thanks in advance! Kind regards, The LEGO Moderation Team" "Hi mods, As you wish. Here is a list of all the offences that come to mind, and their reasons from my point of view: Offence: Rejecting perfectly good comedies. Reason: Probably because you received that training from the new moderation company. Offence: Knowingly blaspheming again the Catholic/Christian religions and uncapitalising the name God. Reason: Well, your reason was to "not offend any religion", but as in doing so, you offend the religion of half the people on the boards, (maybe more), then I don't really see any reason... Offence: Lying to me about how everyone else from the BCC has moved on. Reason: Probably to get me off your back, and I expect you where saying the same falsehood to the others who where arguing, so as to be free of them too. Offence: Locking the BCC for no good reason. Reason: There isn't any logical reason I can think of, unless you count WA wanting to have the last word (it was locked directly after she posted). Offence: Changing my name to Anonymous. Reason: I really cannot think of one. Offence: Refusing to accept, admit, and apologise for any of these offences. Reason: As I stated in a few of my departing posts, I can see a few reasons why: You might be robots (please don't take it personally, as it is only theories I have made based on what evidence I have seen), you might be very stubborn, you might be very egotistical/vain, you might be mad, or you might be very stupid. Again, please don't take this personally as these are only theories. If you so require, I will produce evidence/witnesses for the above. Yours truthfully, botven1" "Hi Botven, Thanks for doing it this way! J Ok, so we think the best way to respond is to take each one individually and discuss them to mutual satisfaction or agreement to disagree and then move onto the next. So, let’s begin with the first: Offence: Rejecting perfectly good comedies. Reason: Probably because you received that training from the new moderation company. Obviously, without links to the specific comedies in question it’s going to be difficult to give a thorough answer but we ought to begin with your point about “training from the new moderation company”. What new moderation company are you referring to and what training? Kind regards, The LEGO Moderation Team" "Hi mods, Yes, this is a very good idea, as it focuses on one argument at a time and doesn't allow any avoiding of the issue (this, by the way, is the reason I wanted to invite you to a minichat, so we could discuss stuff one-to-one, if you know what I mean.) Yes, especially as I can't access any of my rejected posts. I'm sure LQ and Keplers will be able to provide ample examples though. About the training: A few months ago, (about the time the issues in moderation started), you posted an announcement that you where leaving for a week to "go to mod school." The company I'm talking about is this: http://moderationgat...ate-case-study/ I am not sure if it is a new company, but there was definitely new training. Yours squarely, botven1" "Hi Botven, An interesting theory but not entirely accurate! J There was an announcement to say that we would be away for a week for training, but that was last September and wasn’t related to our use of Moderation Gateway. The Moderation Gateway training hasn’t altered our moderation approach at all. Having said this, at about the same time we did hire two new moderators and they did take some time to get up and running, making mistakes as they went along (as new people naturally do). One of them, who has actually left the team now (not fired or anything, but left to create her own company) had an unusually high rejection ratio and was admittedly causing some minor confusion in various forums. We did explain this at the time, however. Having said this, if the posts or topics are within a grey zone off skirting inappropriateness, it is sometimes left to the decisions of individual moderators and sometimes they will make different decisions. Clearly, this creates a small level of inconsistency but that’s also natural and can’t be helped. So, things like “I hit him across the face”, “I smashed him against a wall” and things like that. We can provide guidance but we can’t cover every single eventuality and so humans need to make decisions on instances that are not covered by our examples. Some moderators will make a lenient decision and some might be stricter. You might just have encountered one that was more strict, potentially one of the new people mentioned above. So, this wasn’t to do with training or a change in approach at all. The apparent excuses you’ve mentioned before where you don’t believe it could be due to moderator mistakes or difference of opinion is actually very much the case. Are you satisfied with that as an explanation and ok to move on to the next point? Kind regards, The LEGO Moderation Team" Category:Blog posts